Easter Egger Sexing "tips and tricks" *Pictures Included*

[DMRippy]

There will not be any red on the wings.... she is Dominate white. I have not seen anything on my SBEL roos other than the combs that told me they were roos. I am 99.9% sure she is a pullet.... keep us updated.

 

[my sunwolf]

Okay you EE experts... I have another batch of babies who are 3.5 weeks (will be 4 weeks on Monday). I would LOVE some attempts at guesses. I can't really tell them apart, but I can look out for those with similar coloration and watch how it develops.

1.



2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8. (this might be the same as #4)


9. (this might be the same as #5)


10.


11.



12.


13.


I really hope that, since most of these look like cockerels to me, they just happened to be the ones that were brave enough to come to the camera, instead of that most of my batch is boys...

What do you all think?? Any wild guesses based on color??

 

[aoxa]

#10 & #12 are the only pullets I'm relatively sure about. Lots of the others appear to be boys.

 

[my sunwolf]

#10 & #12 are the only pullets I'm relatively sure about. Lots of the others appear to be boys.

Thanks for the response

This April I had 20 EE's and 17 of them were cockerels, so I was really hoping for better odds this time around. There are 24.
I'll take photos of everyone come the 5 week mark, and then we'll see.


Also I realized after I posted this that I should probably just get my own thread!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I think looking at the combs is another way to predict at this age, but it's harder when they are mixed with single combs. #2 looks like a cockerel based on the comb size. Would have to see closer pics to guess on others. It wouldn't be surprising if the cockerels were the ones to get photographed! How many do you have total?

Oops, just saw your last post, so 24 in total this time around. If your ratio is as skewed as last time (17 of 20 cockerels!!!) maybe there's some environmental factor creating more boys (?) of maybe a different rooster would help (?). Don't know much about this.

 

[aoxa]

I think looking at the combs is another way to predict at this age, but it's harder when they are mixed with single combs. #2 looks like a cockerel based on the comb size. Would have to see closer pics to guess on others. It wouldn't be surprising if the cockerels were the ones to get photographed! How many do you have total?

Oops, just saw your last post, so 24 in total this time around. If your ratio is as skewed as last time (17 of 20 cockerels!!!) maybe there's some environmental factor creating more boys (?) of maybe a different rooster would help (?). Don't know much about this.

You may be surprised to know that the female predicts the sex in birds. So a new rooster will not do any good

 

[Wishing4Wings]

You may be surprised to know that the female predicts the sex in birds. So a new rooster will not do any good

Hahaha! Yes, I had just recently read about that! It's hard to change around the XY pattern that I'm familiar with, but could there be other factors besides the availability of sex chromosomes? For example, maybe a rooster could have some sort of genetic weakness that prevents most of the female chicks from developing.

I was thinking that 20 eggs from one hen is a lot for a single hatch, and assuming there was more than one hen involved, but usually a single roo, so was casting blame on the poor roo for those 17 cockerels!!! Do you know of any other factors that might have an effect? Temperature or time of year? I suppose if there was anything at all obvious, everyone would be doing that!!! Maybe she needs to try hatching eggs from a different hen!

As a side note, my hubby has loads of first cousins, and of all the children (almost 30) born of this generation, the boys vastly outnumber girls (over 3:1). I have 2 boys myself, and have always wondered what caused such dramatic results in one family. So you can see why I'm curious about this happening with chickens!

 

[aoxa]

Hahaha! Yes, I had just recently read about that! It's hard to change around the XY pattern that I'm familiar with, but could there be other factors besides the availability of sex chromosomes? For example, maybe a rooster could have some sort of genetic weakness that prevents most of the female chicks from developing.

I was thinking that 20 eggs from one hen is a lot for a single hatch, and assuming there was more than one hen involved, but usually a single roo, so was casting blame on the poor roo for those 17 cockerels!!! Do you know of any other factors that might have an effect? Temperature or time of year? I suppose if there was anything at all obvious, everyone would be doing that!!! Maybe she needs to try hatching eggs from a different hen!

As a side note, my hubby has loads of first cousins, and of all the children (almost 30) born of this generation, the boys vastly outnumber girls (over 3:1). I have 2 boys myself, and have always wondered what caused such dramatic results in one family. So you can see why I'm curious about this happening with chickens!

It is hard to change that idea. I like blaming the men.

But there is this theory that ACV changes the PH and allows for more females to develop. I don't know all the details, but gave it a shot for the fun of it. My first hatch with wayyyy more girls than boys. It's 65/35% for the girl to boy ratio. Yes. I think I like that. I'd give you more details, but I don't have much time.

I'm normally right on the 50% margin. It wasn't even that I hatched a few chicks and gave it that %. There were 30 chicks I hatched and that is my hatch % for girls and boys.

 

[my sunwolf]

Eh, just wanted to point out that I'm not breeding or hatching them, just keep getting straight run from hatcheries... so dunno why they'd be mostly roosters except that if I wanted to screw people over, that's what I'd do!

 

[Brandi Leigh]

Very useful tips!